Ursala, a baboon at the Seneca Park Zoo, likes a good cup of treats when University of Rochester researchers offer her a snack.
In fact, when they recently gave Ursala the choice between two small cups of peanut mix, and the difference in amounts was clear, she was likely to point at the cup with the larger quantity.
"Humans are not the only animals that think about quantities," said Jessica Cantlon, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive science at UR heading up a research team working with baboons at the zoo.
Cantlon's work, published in the recent issue of the online journal, Frontiers in Comparative Psychology, involved Ursala and seven other of the zoo's baboons. It showed that the baboons acted in the same way that a 3-year-old child does learning numbers.
Baboons, like young children, create inexact representations of numbers in their mind - something akin to making more-or-less comparisons - of what's in each of the two cups put before them. When the difference in the number of peanuts in each cup was large, the baboons were more likely to point to the cup with more peanuts.
The study is one of the ways Cantlon has examined how humans learn math and what similarities they have with non-human primates such as baboons. It comes on the heels of another study done by Cantlon that incorporated a 20-minute segment of Sesame Street, featuring Big Bird, the Count and Elmo working with numbers.
Cantlon, 37, who came to UR from Duke University in 2009, is described as a rising superstar in her field by professor Gregory DeAngelis, chairman of the brain and cognitive science department at UR.
"She has identified the big questions - the origin of the brain's ability to do math," said DeAngelis, who added that Cantlon is also adept at figuring out what experiments are needed to answer various questions.
Adding up her work
Cantlon could figure out new ways to help young children experiencing difficulty in math with her work, said DeAngelis.
The promise of Cantlon's research has been recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which recently selected her as one of 126 scientists chosen as 2013 fellows.
Since the baboons do math in ways similar to that of a young child and are not harmed by the research, they provide Cantlon with another avenue of exploring brain development.
"I feel the baboons enjoyed participating because they chose to participate," said Kelly Hughes, a post-doctoral associate at UR who worked with Cantlon on the research. "We'd always set up the same way. They'd come and check if we were there, and if we were, they'd sit and wait for us to begin testing."
In another study underway, baboons are shown an image of an object on a computer touchscreen. The screen is then cleared and two new images appear, with one of them matching the shape of the first image.
Early returns suggest that the two baboons in this study are likely to select the image that has shape similar to the first image shown. "Some people think that's a special feature of being human and learning language. What we have seen in our studies of baboons is that baboons go with shape," Cantlon said.
Human powers
While sharing traits with humans, baboons also have limits on what they can do, so don't expect one to scribble E=mc2. "The real difference is that they can't count to a precise number and tell you that's exactly five," said Cantlon. "It always has to be relative to something."
In Cantlon's Sesame Street study, according to e! Science News, an online publication, 27 children between the ages of 4 and 11, and 20 adults watched the same segment of Sesame Street. The use of MRI scans permitted researchers to measure blood flow to the part of the brain that processes numbers while they watched. The children then took a standardized IQ test.
"We were able to show that their neural activity while they were watching Sesame Street is related to how well they performed on a math test," Cantlon explained.
Cantlon cautions that there is no simple way to determine why a child might be having difficulty with math. "Our job is to try to understand how the brain develops mathematical skills," she said.
SOURCE : http://www.ksdk.com/news/watercooler/article/380438/71/Monkeys-can-do-math-according-to-new-study
In fact, when they recently gave Ursala the choice between two small cups of peanut mix, and the difference in amounts was clear, she was likely to point at the cup with the larger quantity.
"Humans are not the only animals that think about quantities," said Jessica Cantlon, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive science at UR heading up a research team working with baboons at the zoo.
Cantlon's work, published in the recent issue of the online journal, Frontiers in Comparative Psychology, involved Ursala and seven other of the zoo's baboons. It showed that the baboons acted in the same way that a 3-year-old child does learning numbers.
Baboons, like young children, create inexact representations of numbers in their mind - something akin to making more-or-less comparisons - of what's in each of the two cups put before them. When the difference in the number of peanuts in each cup was large, the baboons were more likely to point to the cup with more peanuts.
The study is one of the ways Cantlon has examined how humans learn math and what similarities they have with non-human primates such as baboons. It comes on the heels of another study done by Cantlon that incorporated a 20-minute segment of Sesame Street, featuring Big Bird, the Count and Elmo working with numbers.
Cantlon, 37, who came to UR from Duke University in 2009, is described as a rising superstar in her field by professor Gregory DeAngelis, chairman of the brain and cognitive science department at UR.
"She has identified the big questions - the origin of the brain's ability to do math," said DeAngelis, who added that Cantlon is also adept at figuring out what experiments are needed to answer various questions.
Adding up her work
Cantlon could figure out new ways to help young children experiencing difficulty in math with her work, said DeAngelis.
The promise of Cantlon's research has been recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which recently selected her as one of 126 scientists chosen as 2013 fellows.
Since the baboons do math in ways similar to that of a young child and are not harmed by the research, they provide Cantlon with another avenue of exploring brain development.
"I feel the baboons enjoyed participating because they chose to participate," said Kelly Hughes, a post-doctoral associate at UR who worked with Cantlon on the research. "We'd always set up the same way. They'd come and check if we were there, and if we were, they'd sit and wait for us to begin testing."
In another study underway, baboons are shown an image of an object on a computer touchscreen. The screen is then cleared and two new images appear, with one of them matching the shape of the first image.
Early returns suggest that the two baboons in this study are likely to select the image that has shape similar to the first image shown. "Some people think that's a special feature of being human and learning language. What we have seen in our studies of baboons is that baboons go with shape," Cantlon said.
Human powers
While sharing traits with humans, baboons also have limits on what they can do, so don't expect one to scribble E=mc2. "The real difference is that they can't count to a precise number and tell you that's exactly five," said Cantlon. "It always has to be relative to something."
In Cantlon's Sesame Street study, according to e! Science News, an online publication, 27 children between the ages of 4 and 11, and 20 adults watched the same segment of Sesame Street. The use of MRI scans permitted researchers to measure blood flow to the part of the brain that processes numbers while they watched. The children then took a standardized IQ test.
"We were able to show that their neural activity while they were watching Sesame Street is related to how well they performed on a math test," Cantlon explained.
Cantlon cautions that there is no simple way to determine why a child might be having difficulty with math. "Our job is to try to understand how the brain develops mathematical skills," she said.
SOURCE : http://www.ksdk.com/news/watercooler/article/380438/71/Monkeys-can-do-math-according-to-new-study
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